NBA Trade Rumors: Toronto Raptors dealing Kyle Lowry before deadline

Kyle Lowry has declared himself to be a franchise player for the Toronto Raptors but will have his contract expiring after the 2016-2017 NBA Season. According to the Raptors starting point guard, he expects to be paid like a franchise player but is open to exploring free agency after the season.

Could the Raptors consider trading him before the trade deadline if they don’t see him as a franchise player? This will open NBA rumors that the Raptors may let him go when his contract expires as they already paid big money to DeMar DeRozan this summer.

According to a Yahoo Sports report, Lowry is planning to opt out of his contract with the Raptors after the season. However, Lowry is “hopeful” that they can quickly agree to a long-term huge deal when free agency arrives.

“If you’re that franchise’s guy, and you’re the guy that they’ve been rolling with, and you’ve given that franchise everything you have, yeah, I think [negotiations] should be easy,” Lowry said in the article.

“I think it should be a situation where a guy shouldn’t have to talk to another team. DeMar [DeRozan] didn’t have the chance to talk to another team. For me, I think that at 12:01 a.m. on July 1 – something should be close. If not, I’m open to seeing what else is out there.”

Lowry’s declaration puts the Raptors in a tough spot since they just gave DeRozan a huge deal, a five-year $137.5 million deal this summer. Lowry is just paid $12 million for the 2016-2017 season and will demand a similar max deal from Toronto.

The Raptors will be maxed out with other players like Jonas Valanciunas and DeMarre Carroll earning nearly $15 million in the next three to four seasons.